Franciscans are first and foremost brothers. We do not mean brothers because we belong to the same family. We mean brothers as in consecrated religious brothers. You enter the Franciscan family because you want to be a religious brother, to follow the Gospel in the manner of St. Francis.
You enter into a covenant with Christ to live the Gospel, as proclaimed by the Church, supported by the graces of the sacraments and by your religious brothers, always walking in the footsteps of St. Francis. To a Franciscan there is no greater teacher of the Gospel as St. Francis. We have a very deep devotion to our spiritual Father and a deep obedience to him. His greatest concern was his brotherhood. Therefore, our greatest concern is our brotherhood. We spend as much time as possible with each other in prayer, recreation, work, silence and service to each other.
Our mission and work in the Church is predicated on our fraternal life. Nothing happens outside of the community without the express consent of the other brothers. We go where the brothers send us. We minister in whatever way the brothers want us to minister. Some of us minister outside of the community and many of us minister only inside the community.
We do not live in monasteries or priories. We live in friaries or community houses. The difference between a priory and a friary is that a priory is governed by a superior called the Prior. To the Franciscans this title was unacceptable, because it implies that he is the first. For us the first and last authority is always our holy Father Francis. Therefore our houses are called friaries, which comes from the Latin, brotherhood. A friary is a brotherhood or a house of brothers. We do not have superiors as do Carmelites, Dominicans, Augustinians and other mendicants. The head of the brotherhood is called the Guardian. His mission is to take care of the needs of the brothers. He has no authority of governance over the brothers.
Every house has what is called a House Chapter. This takes place every month. In the chapter the brothers discuss their needs, make plans, discuss finances, distribution of labor, the spiritual life, their apostolate, etc. Then we vote on each item that we discuss. Whatever we decide must confirm to two things: 1) the will of St. Francis and 2) the constitutions of the order. Once the voting is done, it is the job of the Guardian to make it happen. The Guardian cannot order any friar to submit under obedience. He does not have that kind of authority.
The rule is very clear. The friars shall obey the pope, Brother Francis and his canonically elected successors. The canonically elected successors of St. Francis are the Major Superiors. They do have the power of absolute governance and absolute authority. There is no questioning a Major Superior. A Major Superior is the Provincial Superior and the Minister General of the Order.
The Major Superior is also an Ordinary. This means that he has the same authority as a bishop. He need not be a priest in the Franciscan family, as is the case in other families. As long as he is canonically elected, he is the successor of Francis and has all the authority of Francis. He elects who will be ordained and who will not. But this election is not done until after the friar has made solemn vows. Solemn vows are permanent. You can only leave the community with a dispensation from the Holy See.
No one enters the Franciscan family to be a priest. You enter the Franciscan family to be a brother to other brothers, to give your life to Christ in penance, obedience, poverty, prayer, liturgy, and ministry. Your ministry is determined between you and the Major Superior according to your gifts. Of course you must understand that your ministry has to be consistent with the minsitry of the fraternity. Different Franciscan fraternities have different ministries.
You may ask to be ordained. If approved by the friars, you will be sent to a theological school or to a university to study theology. Even then, at the end of your theological studies, you must present yourself again before your brothers and ask for to be admitted to solemn vows. The brothers vote. The vote is given to the Major Superior. He alone can decide if you can be admitted to solemn vows. After you make your solemn vows you must wait for a fixed period before you ask for Holy Orders. Again, you present yourself to your brothers and ask for permission to be ordained. The brothers will vote. If the vote is favorable, then the Major Superior has the authority to present you to a bishop to ordain you. If the vote is not favorable, the Major Superior may not veto it. He is bound by obedience to the friars. You would have to wait and ask again at a later date. It may eventually be granted, but it may be denied and you may be ordered never to ask again.
The priesthood is not essential to the Franciscan life, as we are not a family of clerics. We are a lay family, meaning that we are not a clerical order. We are consecrated men. We have many friars who are priests, very holy priests. But it is never a given that you will be ordained, because you want to be ordained. You cannot assume that in the Franciscan family.
However, in fairness to the individual, during the years that you are in formation before solemn vows, you will have an annual evaluation and you will receive feedback. By the time you are ready to make solemn vows, you have an idea whether you will be allowed to ask for ordination.
Whether you are ordained or not, I would not trade my Franciscan life for any other life in the world. Franciscan life is full of joy, struggles, reward, deserts and consolations. Most of all, the family spirit is so strong, that I can’t imagine being in any other place. This is from a man who was married and the father of three beautiful children. It’s always fun when we’re together and in the midst of a bunch of habits you hear “Daddy!”. That always throws people for a loop.
I hope this is informative.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
